Image: masma66087

Moving content sparks interest
We all want to get our message across on social media, but the competition is stiff. KIT.se, a Swedish digital publicist who reaches out to their readers on social media, knows the tricks. Realizing that social channels reward moving contents, KIT disseminates compelling films on Facebook and on other social media outlets. We talked to KIT's CEO Linda Öhrn Lernström to get some tips on what we should consider when producing moving material.
Linda Öhrn Lernström
About Linda Öhrn Lernström
Linda Öhrn Lernström has a background as a reporter, editor and editor-in-chief working at the Veckorevyn, Mama and Family Living magazines. She was recruited to KIT as a feature manager but now holds the position of CEO.
Image: masma68555

Linda, would you mind explaining what KIT does for those who don't know?
KIT aims to be Sweden's leading agency for moving contents on social media. As an agency, our goal is to always provide the customer with the right contents, for the right person, on the right platform and to know exactly when this content is to be distributed.

All content we disseminate on social media is based on content data. This way, we don't need to A/B test our contents. We know what story we want to tell, how we want to tell it, to whom, and where and when it is to be distributed.

Social channels reward videos, and when you produce the right contents, the distribution of moving contents is cheap. You can get a lot of traffic if you produce the right contents.

So what are the right contents?
That totally depends, but some things are good to have checked off: Why are we doing this, for whom, why would anyone want to share this and what is the purpose?

It is important to remember that you can't capture everything you want to say in one video. A classic scenario is that a customer wants our help producing a video. When we ask what the video should be about, we learn that they want X, Y and Z. We generally need to tell them that we will need to make at least three videos for what they described. At least if their goal is for people to actually watch their video. And the videos need to be adapted to their target group and platform. So in the end, we may end up making 10 videos instead of just one.
Image: plap1275m1511361

A few more of Linda's tips
When it comes to moving communication, Linda wants to highlight the City of Stockholm and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. SVT edit has also been good at moving content. Internationally, she thinks that Vox, Great Big Story and Brut have inspiring ways of telling stories on social media.

How can a communications department in, let's say, an authority or municipality, use moving contents in social media to get their message across?
Use a good video-making tool that is easy to use, one that doesn't require you to have a bunch of other programs and know-how. At KIT, we use Storykit. A very easy tool that anyone can use to efficiently make an attractive video.

If you have staff that knows how to work in a tool like Premier, you're good to go.
If not, hire someone like KIT. It may be for creating a strategy for getting started on your own or for getting help with production, distribution, optimization and analysis.

Do you have to have filmed material in your clips? Or is it enough to make videos using stills?
We usually combine stills and moving material in our videos. If you don't have any filmed material, you can add effects or pan through stills to give a feeling of movement.

How do you choose the images and moving material for your videos? 
The images and videos we use need to effectively propel the story forward. They need to create the right mood and portray people in a way that gives a sense of recognition.

You should avoid falling into the trap of being overly obvious. That is, showing in images what you have written. The obviousness of it can be tiresome to watch. Instead, dare to surprise your viewers with your images!

Is there anything in particular you consider to get images and moving material from different sources to coincide?
We use our own images and videos as well as material from stock agencies. To achieve better visual unity, you can cheat a bit by using simple animations or by putting filters on your images.

Image: ima119619
To conclude, would like to highlight any of your videos?
Yes. For the Swedish Internet Foundation, we made a few long articles that were broken down into a number of short videos (link to video) that were customized for social media. We did this so they would spread far and wide and so people would watch the entire videos in the hopes of the message reaching its targets. In general, these videos have a good view rate.
Video "Är det verkligen banken som ringer?" (in Swedish)

We also made a video for UNHCR (link to video). They wanted to raise attention to the fact that it gets very cold in refugee camps around the world and that children could freeze to death. We made a video about what happens in the body when hypothermia sets in, which got people's attention. And, the viewers could begin to identify with what it means to freeze to death. We closed with a quick, simple description of what it's like in the refugee camps. So, KIT was able to take the customer's problem (the message they wanted to convey) and create a video to send out the message, but in KIT's way.
Video "När fryser man ihjäl?" (in Swedish)
Read more from Johnér, here.